Planter

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a planter. It comprises plastic toroidal members having corresponding interlocking male and female portions. These members have an inner upward vertical portion; an intermediate horizontal portion; and an outer downward vertical portion. The inner upward vertical portion is raised above the ground and surrounds the soil which is immediately adjacent the plant. The intermediate horizontal portion is substantially level with the ground level outward from but adjacent the planter. The outward downward vertical portion depends from the intermediate horizontal portion and extends vertically downward therefrom segregating the soil portion, outward from but adjacent the planter, from the plant.

United States Patent 1 1 Tabone 1 1 Apr. 3, 1973 [5 41 PLANTER PrimaryExaminer-Robert E. Bagwill [76] Inventor: Michael T. Tabone, 248881Ward, Attorney-Dam Taylor, Mich. 48180 221 Filed: Jan. 15, 1971 ABSTRACT[21] Appl. No.: 106,833 This invention relates to a planter. Itcomprises plastic toroidal members having corresponding interlocking l df l t' Th b h 52 U.S. Cl ..47/33 i: g f z i :2. 511 1111.01. ..A01g 1/08P a 9 a m e E Field of Search 47/32 3 23 94/31 horizontal portion; andan outer downward vertical portion. The inner upward vertical portion israised [56] References Cited above the ground and surrounds the soilwhich is immediately adjacent the plant. The intermediate UNITED STATESPATENTS horizontal portion is substantially level with the 19860461/1935 Cross ..47 33 gmmd level Ward mm but adjacent mePlamer- 3:373:6683/1968 Moore et al. ..47/33 x The Outward downward vertieelPertiendepende from 3,520,082 7/1970 ..47/33 the intermediate horizontalPortion and extends vertil,916,494 7/ i933 Schrickel .47/33 callydownward therefrom segregating the soil portion, 3,545,127 12/1970Jensen ..47/33 outward from but adjacent the planter, from the plant.2,909,328 10/1959 Babyak ..47l33 2,978,837 4/l96l Daniels ..47/33FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 13 Claims 6 Drawing Figures 1,048 1894Great Britain ..47/33 PLANTER This invention relates generally toplanters. More specifically, this invention relates to planters-havingplastic toroidal members with corresponding interlocking male and femaleportions and portions segregating soil and plant life outward from butimmediately adjacent the planter from the soil inward from the planterand immediately adjacent the plant.

In the past, efforts have been made to devise planters which inhibitweed growth from soil immediately surrounding the planter from reachingthe soil immediately adjacent the plant enclosed. It has also been anobjective of efforts to design planters in the past to design suchplanters that come in convenient sections that are interconnectable bycorresponding male and female portions and that are easy to install.Past efforts also have included the objectives of a planter design thatis aesthetic and decorative and hence increasing sales appeal; that areinexpensive to produce, sell and use; and are made of comparativelylight-weight material.

Prior to this invention, no planter has optimally achieved theseobjectives. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide aplanter that does optimally achieve these objectives.

Other objects of this invention will be understood from the followingspecification and drawings'relating to preferred and alternativeembodiments of the invention.

These objects and objectives are achieved by a planter having toroidalmembers. The toroidal members are made of a plastic having a hardnesscorresponding to the hardness of Herculite. These members havecorresponding male and female portions for interlocking one withanother. These members have a cross-section resembling a Z. Thesemembers have an inner upper vertical portion extending above the soil orgrass surrounding the planter and separated at a distance therefrom.These members have an outer lower downwardly extending vertical portioncontiguous with soil or plant life immediately adjacent to andsurrounding the planter and segregating such soil or plant life from thesoil immediately adjacent to the plant enclosed. An intermediatehorizontal portion is provided in each of these toroidal members that issubstantially co-level with the soil and plant life top surface adjacentto and surrounding the planter and that also simultaneously connects andseparates the inner, upper vertical members with and from the outerdownward vertical member.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, referring to the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification.

On the drawings:

FIG. 1. is a three-dimensional perspective view of the preferredembodiment of this invention; v

FIG. 2. is a three-dimensional view of a portion of FIG. 1 detailing inpart the male-female interlocking portions thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view of the portion of an alternative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a view of another portion of an alternative embodiment of theinvention, and

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2along the line 5-5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the present invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated inthe accompanying drawings since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways.

Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

As shown on the drawings:

A planter 10 is shown in FIG. 1. It comprises semicircular members 12and 14. These semi-circular members fit together in interlockingmale-female relationship at junctions l6 and 18.

Each semi-circular member has a substantially horizontal portion 19; aradially inward substantially vertical upstanding right circularcylindrical portion 20; and a radially outwardly substantiallydownwardly extending vertical right circular cylindrical portion 22. Theradially inward vertical portion 20 is integral with and connects withsubstantially horizontal portion 19 by a smooth substantially circularradial fillet portion 24. The horizontal portion 18 is integral with andconnects with the downward vertical portion 22 at rounds having asubstantially circular radius 26.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated the interlocking male-femalerelationship of two members of the planter. At the end 30 of one of themembers is located structure providing a female receptacle along theedge of the inner upward vertical portion 20. This portion isillustrated in cross section at numeral 30 at FIG. 5.

Also referring to FIG. 2, at one end 32 of another member in the planteris located a portion in the inner upward vertical portion that providesa male member at the edge of that portion. This feature is illustratedin cross-section as numeral 32 in FIG. 5.

In cross-section the male member is illustrated as a substantiallykey-shaped member 34 having a relatively thick cross bar member 36 andrelatively thin upright member 38. The cross section of the femalemember 40 reveals a shape corresponding to the outer periphery of thecross section of the male member 34. More particularly, the femalemember 40 comprises members 42 that limit the outward translation of themale member from the female member with relatively thick portion at theportals 44 of the female member. The female member 40 has an innerrecess portion 46 that is adapted to receive the cross bar portion 36 ofthe male T-shaped member. The length of the cross bar member 36 of themale member is more fully illustrated in FIG. 2. The T-shaped malemember 34 is part of an integral width of the upper inner radial portion20 of a section member 12 and is located at the edge 32 of the uprightmember 20.

The female member 40 is integral with the end 30 of an upright member 20and appears as an overlapping feature continuing the upright portion 20in overlapping going back downward down substantially the verticalexpanse of the upright portion 20.

From the foregoing description it can be appreciated that the pieces 12can be joined together by sliding the female portion of a piece 12 overthe male portion 40 to fit in to an interlocking relationship that holdsthe pieces together.

As indicated, FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the inventioncomprising semi-circular sections 12, 14 that interlock together to forma circular planter. In FIGS. 3 and 4, there is illustrated,respectively, angular sections 53 and 54 respectively. Section 53 is themere image of section 54. Two of each of these pieces can be joinedtogether in interlocking malefemale relationship to form a rectangularor square planter. Each of the sections 53, 54 except for their rightangle configuration are similar in many respects to the cirular sections12, 14. Each of the angular sections 53, 54 have male members 56 and 57respectively that correspond precisely to the configuration of the malemembers 34 of the circular section members. These male members 56, 57have a corresponding interlocking relationship with female members 58and 59, respectively, in a manner similar to that described with respectto the semicircular sections 12.

Other shapes of sections or members of the planter similar to thosedescribed above can be utilized in practicing the invention. Forexample, a straight piece can be utilized that has a male memberprecisely the same as male members 56, 57 and also female members thatprecisely correspond, 58, 59, to provide a rectangular planter entity ora planter entity having a larger area than that provided merely by foursections, two each of those sections corresponding to sections 53, 54.

In FIG. 6 there is illustrated in cross-sectional view the use of theplanter with a plant. A tree 60 is shown situated in the center of acircular planter 10. The lower radially outward portion 22 of a sectionor member 12 is shown embedded in the ground at 62. The upward verticalmember of such a section-l2 is shown to be above the ground level of theground surrounding the perimeter of the planter and also enclosing thesoil in which the plant 60 is planted. The intermediate portion 19 ofeach of the sections 12 is shown to be approximately at ground level,that is level with the ground at the outer perimeter of the planter. Allof the components and portions, members and sections of the planter canbe made from plastic. A preferred type of plastic is an epoxy type ofmaterial or a material of a plastic nature having a hardness similar tothe hardness of Herculite.

The plastic material can be formed by extrusions or moldings.

It can be appreciated from the foregoing description that mention hasbeen provided that can be a decorative planter that will inhibit weedgrowth in the soil immediately adjacent the plant within the interior ofthe planter, that is light weight and easy to install or remove; that iscapable of inexpensive manufacture and marketing; that provides a rigidstructure for enclosing other garden items in addition to plants such asstones and art objects; and that is capable of being produced in a widevariety of shapes.

Iclaim:

1. In a plant enclosure, the improvements comprising:

sectional members forming an interlocking malefemale relationship withone another in forming an enclosure of a plant; each of said sectionalmembers having an outward downwardly depending vertical portionprotruding substantially below ground level and separating the soiladjacent the plant enclosed from the soil outward from the outerperimeter of said plant enclosure;

each of said sectional members having an inward upwith the level of soilimmediately adjacent the outer perimeter of said plant enclosure; eachof said sectional members having an integrally formed male portionthereon at an end thereof; each of said sectional members having afemale portion corresponding in shape to the outer surface of said maleportion and adaptable to receive said male portion in an interlockingrigid relationship;

said sectional members being joined together in the aforesaidmale-female interlocking relationship so as to form a planter entirelyenclosing the plant segregating said plant from soil and floraimmediately adjacent to the outer perimeter of said planter;

said female portion being at one end of each of said sectional membersand having an aperture opening near the bottom thereof and being closednear the top thereof whereby one of said members can be mated withanother of said members by dropping vertically one of said members ontoa space immediately adjacent the other of said members in forming amating, locking connection therewith free of any horizontal translationrequired of the piece to form the mating, locking relationship with theother member,

said male portion having a constituent limiting the horizontaltranslation .of a sectional member joined to the sectional member havingthe male portion with respect to the sectional member having the maleportion.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein each of said sectional members is madeof a plastic material having a density no greater than twice the densityof water at 1 3. The article in claim 1 wherein each of said sectionalmembers is made of a plastic material that is moldable and yet has aresultant finished hardness substantially equivalent to the hardness ofacrylonitrile butadine styrene.

4.-The article of claim 1 wherein each of said male member portions isT-shaped in cross section.

5. The article in claim 1 wherein said planter in its plan view has acircular shape.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said planter has a substantiallyrectangular shape.

7. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein each of said sectional members inplan view has an annular semicircular configuration.

8. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein each of said sectional members inplan view has a right angular configuration.

9. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein the male and female interlockingportions are integral with and at the edge of the inner upwardlyascending portion of each of said sectional members.

10. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein each of said 5 sectional members inplan view is of right angular configuration and two of said sectionalmembers are the mirror image of the other two of said sectional members.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outward downwardly dependingvertical portion and said inward upwardly ascending vertical portionhave substantially the same thickness throughout their lengths as theintermediate portion of each of said sectional members.

1. In a plant enclosure, the improvements comprising: sectional membersforming an interlocking male-female relationship with one another informing an enclosure of a plant; each of said sectional members havingan outward downwardly depending vertical portion protrudingsubstantially below ground level and separating the soil adjacent theplant enclosed from the soil outward from the outer perimeter of saidplant enclosure; each of said sectional members having an inwardupwardly ascending vertical portion projecting above the ground level ofthe soil immediately adjacent the outer perimeter of said plantenclosure; each of said sectional members having an intermediate portionadjacent to, connected to, rigidly attached to, and integral with theaforesaid downwardly depending and upwardly ascending portions; saidintermediate portion being substantially level with the level of soilimmediately adjacent the outer perimeter of said plant enclosure; eachof said sectional members having an integrally formed male portionthereon at an end thereof; each of said sectional members having afemale portion corresponding in shape to the outer surface of said maleportion and adaptaBle to receive said male portion in an interlockingrigid relationship; said sectional members being joined together in theaforesaid male-female interlocking relationship so as to form a planterentirely enclosing the plant segregating said plant from soil and floraimmediately adjacent to the outer perimeter of said planter; said femaleportion being at one end of each of said sectional members and having anaperture opening near the bottom thereof and being closed near the topthereof whereby one of said members can be mated with another of saidmembers by dropping vertically one of said members onto a spaceimmediately adjacent the other of said members in forming a mating,locking connection therewith free of any horizontal translation requiredof the piece to form the mating, locking relationship with the othermember, said male portion having a constituent limiting the horizontaltranslation of a sectional member joined to the sectional member havingthe male portion with respect to the sectional member having the maleportion.
 2. The article of claim 1 wherein each of said sectionalmembers is made of a plastic material having a density no greater thantwice the density of water at 1* C.
 3. The article in claim 1 whereineach of said sectional members is made of a plastic material that ismoldable and yet has a resultant finished hardness substantiallyequivalent to the hardness of acrylonitrile butadine styrene.
 4. Thearticle of claim 1 wherein each of said male member portions is T-shapedin cross section.
 5. The article in claim 1 wherein said planter in itsplan view has a circular shape.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidplanter has a substantially rectangular shape.
 7. The apparatus in claim1 wherein each of said sectional members in plan view has an annularsemicircular configuration.
 8. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein each ofsaid sectional members in plan view has a right angular configuration.9. The apparatus in claim 1 wherein the male and female interlockingportions are integral with and at the edge of the inner upwardlyascending portion of each of said sectional members.
 10. The apparatusin claim 1 wherein each of said sectional members in plan view is ofright angular configuration and two of said sectional members are themirror image of the other two of said sectional members.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said outward downwardly depending verticalportion and said inward upwardly ascending vertical portion havesubstantially the same thickness throughout their lengths as theintermediate portion of each of said sectional members.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said intermediate portion has an uppersubstantially planar surface virtually free of irregular anddiscontinuous surface deviations and connecting with the outer surfacesof said outward downwardly depending vertical portion and said inwardupwardly ascending vertical portion with smooth arcs free of sharp orangular discontinuous surface formations.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said downwardly depending portion has a substantially identicalthickness from top to bottom thereof and being free of serrations,knurls and other sharply discontinuous edge features throughout most ofits length.